Ha'aretzHow can the defence minister's judgment on the budget be trusted when Shaul Mofaz was so delusional and dangerous with his recommendation to kill Arafat?

What kind of trust can be given to the man above him, a prime minister who has not kept a single promise, except to invest more money in the settlements (and to bring in more foreign workers for farmers), when the cost of every new road to a picayune settlement is that of half a dozen children's daycare centres and tens of thousands of doses of medicine for the medical basket that was cut yesterday? Fear, beer and hummus

Jerusalem Post (registration required)So, should Arafat be deported? To start with, I think much of the world largely misinterpreted the Israeli cabinet decision on this matter.

The communique was worded in a typical Israeli government way, saying: "We reserve the right to take this action in the future, if we want to do so."

It did not imply that Israel was about to act, but simply made clear the level of frustration reached, and warned Arafat that his extremism and intransigence would have consequences for him.

Moreover, at the moment the prime minister, Ariel Sharon, still seems to oppose deporting Arafat, contrary to the army's commanders. And given the opposition of the US and so many other governments, it is not on the verge of happening. Should Arafat be deported?

Bitter LemonsThe attempt to deport or otherwise "remove" President Arafat, the latest unabashed Israeli interference in the composition of the Palestinian leadership, is set to become Israel's next strategic mistake.

The political position held by Arafat is the political position held by all Palestinian politicians and groups of significance today. In a sense, all components of the Palestinian political leadership are Arafat.

Further, instead of contributing to the functional division that so attracts the Israeli government, an attack on Arafat may very well take us back in time to a scenario where there is no Palestinian Authority, and Israel is a full-fledged occupier with all the resulting security, political, moral and international relations consequences.

Now, there is a lot of debate in Palestinian society as to whether there is a need for the Palestinian Authority to go on if that authority has no hope of developing into a state.

Palestinians might very well be thinking that we are approaching the moment where Israel should no longer be allowed to occupy our country without bearing all the responsibilities of that occupation, especially when Israel itself keeps diminishing and threatening the offices of the Palestinian Authority. Be careful what you wish for

BBC News OnlineMr Arafat, secluded in Ramallah, seems as uncertain as anyone else about how the Palestinians should proceed from here.

His aim appears to be to sit tight so that, if a day comes when a solution is found, he will inevitably be part of it, thus finally fulfilling his lifelong ambition.

This might seem to be a passive strategy of desperation.

Nevertheless, despite being in a seemingly impossible position, Mr Arafat will be taking heart from the fact that he is still the only leader the Palestinians have. Arafat's ambition to be at the helm

Washington PostThe decision [to "remove" Yasser Arafat] was a bad compromise between the hardline sentiments of the government of the prime minister, Ariel Sharon, and the opposition of the Bush administration, which worries about the potential backlash in the Muslim world, including Iraq.

The result has been another demonstration of the counter-productive effects of Israeli action against a man who, for decades, has been the symbol of Palestinian aspirations.

Mr Arafat has enjoyed an outpouring of support, both at home and abroad, while his critics have been silenced.

Ahmed Qureia, a veteran peace negotiator who was seeking to form a new reformist cabinet after Mr Abbas's recent resignation, has frozen his efforts. Mr Arafat has been so emboldened that he has launched his own purported peace initiative, seizing the diplomatic ground from which Israel and the Bush administration had excluded him. Mr Arafat wins again

Daily Star, LebanonIf Israel and the US today continue their sophomoric policy of making us believe that Arafat is the problem, does not count and should be shunned, jailed, expelled, or even killed, they are likely to reap the same results months and years down the road.

The great irony is that Arafat today is a mediocre national leader and had been running into great problems with his own people in recent years, especially since the current intifada and war brought such suffering to many Palestinians.